Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Update

Abstract

Previously published guidelines are available that provide comprehensive recommendations for detecting and preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The intent of this document is to highlight practical recommendations in a concise format designed to assist acute care hospitals in implementing and prioritizing their surgical site infection (SSI) prevention efforts. This document updates “Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals,” published in 2008. This expert guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and is the product of a collaborative effort led by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise. The list of endorsing and supporting organizations is presented in the introduction to the 2014 updates.

Healthcare‐acquired infections: prevention strategies

“…Up to 60% of SSI are preventable. 7 Rates of SSI for elective clean procedures have shown decreased rates in Australia in recent years. 8 • Decolonisation for MRSA and MSSA in patients undergoing high risk procedures, including prosthetic cardiothoracic and orthopaedic surgery.…”

“…2 Table 1 summarises common HAI and outlines preventive strategies. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] In this review, we have focused on the illustrative problems of carbapenem resistance and CDI, and on Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS), areas where further practice change can be anticipated to reduce HAI rates.…”

Surgical Site Infections in Developing Countries: Current Burden and Future Challenges

“…In high-income countries, effective control of SSIs depends on a wide scope of interventions that includes surveillance, healthcare-bundles, antimicrobial prophylaxis, eradication of carrier status, infection control programs and education [3,4].…”

“…The cornerstone is the lack of adherence to recommended infection control guidelines and suboptimal practices in many developing countries. Meanwhile, the hospitals IC committees in several countries focus just on outbreaks of hospital infections without committee discussion of surveillance or endemic HAI [2,3,8]. A major problem faced by health care professionals in developing countries is the lack of microbiology laboratory capacity at the hospitals with subsequent scarcity and frequent unreliability of microbiological data and other diagnostic procedures [2,9].…”

Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureusTransmission and Infection in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Update

“…94-99 e. Decolonization therapy for the prevention of SSI is discussed in the SSI section of the Compendium. 100 Further discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this document. 2.…”